HURIDOCS, established in 1982, is a global network of organisations concerned with human rights. HURIDOCS itself does not collect information, but seeks to establish a decentralised network in which organisations can handle and exchange information according to their own requirements. HURIDOCS tries to facilitate human rights documentation work by:
(a) developing tools for recording and exchanging information (i.e. formats for recording information on documents, organisations, and human rights violations). The basic requirement is compatibility with regard to the type of standard formats used, rather than the question of computerised versus manual systems, or the type of hardware or software used within various organisations.
(b) organising training courses and workshops on human rights information handling in co-operation with organisations involved in the network. and information systems.
(c) providing advice on the establishment and maintenance of documentation centres
HURIDOCS is an open-ended network where organisations can participate in various ways: Task Forces, training courses etc. HURIDOCS does not have a formal membership structure, but it has contacts with organisations in more than 100 countries. Especially after its second General Assembly (Rome, April 1986), the main focus of HURIDOCS has been to strengthen the information handling capacities of organisations in developing countries. HURIDOCS maintains an email discussion list called huridocs-open to facilitate contact between network members, and another list called huridocs-tech dealing with issues in the field of information and communication technology and human rights.
HURIDOCS has developed the human rights search engine www.hurisearch.org which provides access to Websites of over 3000 human rights organisations, with documents in 77 languages and advanced search features